Even a serial killer gets sick sometimes
by YumestarGerman
Summary: After escaping the building and finding a hideout, Zack gets sick with something that seems to be more than a common cold. Also, he starts having weird dreams about the orphanage. Can Rachel handle the situation? (Sickfic with much fluff :D)
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to this Angel of Death Fanfiction/Sickfic ^-^ I hope you will enjoy the story. I apologies for any mistakes in spelling, grammar and I don't know XD Also, this story was originally published in German language, but the author (me) has decided to translate into English! Sooo… Have fun, while reading!**

Even a serial killer gets sick sometimes…

 _"Looks like he got sick" one of the caretakers commented, not letting his silent, scrutinizing gaze of the the boy who had curled up on one of the beds in the orphanage. He was in great pain, but nobody seemed to care about it._

 _"Probably got it from the many corpses he had to buried," said the other caretaker disinterested and then he just shrugged, "How good the idea was to let him take care of the corpses. I don't really want to be sick."_

 _"How true you are," replied the other, "We should still call a doctor before he dies on us."_

 _"Yes, we should," replied the caretaker, who had spoken first. He had turned his eyes away from the suffering child, "On the other hand, we would have less problems without him." And with these words, he went to the phone to call a doctor._

…

…

…

" _What the fuck- What's with that weird shitty dream_.", Zack thought as he opened his exhausted eyes, " _Was that a dream after at all_?"

He looked around for a moment, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming anymore. He quickly realized that he was at the same place where he fell asleep yesterday; the apartment where they had fled to after all the events that had happened. After escaping from prison and freeing Rachel from psychiatry, they fled to a distant state where no one knew he was a serial killer. Maybe it was better that way, because they could live without being on the run. Even if he preferred to continue killing people, maybe a little rest wasn't that bad at first and sometimes it was even a good change. Even though he didn't really like the not-killing thing. After all, he was used to kill. He almost killed Rachel, but both of them had realized at the last moment that it was not the right thing to do. Even though he hated lying, in some situations he had been glad he hadn't killed her. Like now when he had noticed that said girl was lying next to him, " _Huh? She must have come in my bed the night_ **.** "

Then, he looked at her once and he had to smile. Rachel seemed so peaceful that he felt the urge to kill her. But he could still control this feeling very well. Although, he admitted that he liked the idea of killing her in her sleep. But that wouldn't be right.

Now, he straightened up a bit and immediately noticed that the movement hurt a lot, as if he hadn't stretched his body for ages. Then, he dully remembered the pain he had had at the time when he had slashed his stomach, and he found out that the pain he had just now was comparable to the pain at that time. Even though the current pain was not that extreme. But he could feel the pain everywhere, even where he had thought to not feel pain.

" _Uhhh, fuuuuck my throat burns_.", Zack grimaced in pain, " _Shiiiit, that damn does hurt like hell!"_

The pain in his throat was as strong as it had been when he had eaten the ultra-hot pizza on B1. Well, actually it was no longer comparable with it, because his throat burned much more than back then. With every breath he had to take through his mouth, because his nose was too clogged for that, his throat was burning as if someone were lighting a fire in there. When he had to think of fire again, he had to shudder and he began to shiver, " _W-Why I'm so cold w-when my throat's on f-fire_?"

But thinking about it just gave him a headache and he released a silent sigh that gave his throat a whole bunch of pain again, " _W-what's that for a shit-like feeling_? _A-Am I dying, o-or what_?"

He looked down at the peacefully sleeping girl, who still hadn't opened her eyes just yet, and on his face grew a slightly agonized expression and a grimace of pain.

"R-R-Ray?" He croaked in a miserable voice that was sounding like a rusty chainsaw, " _Huh?! What's g-going on with my v-voice_? "He quickly realized that it was not as strong and powerful as it always had sounded. Most of all, it had already hurt him to say the nickname of his little friend. Now, he tried once to swallow the pain, which he managed at first. For a brief moment, he felt pain-free, but then all the pain suddenly returned, and all the torture started all over again, " _Meeh, I will die, i-if she doesn't w-wake up soon. S-She has to do s-something about this a-awful s-shit!_ "

As if he had telepathically communicated to her thoughts, the blonde woke up and once stretched extensively before she sat up. Tired, she rubbed her eyes and was still not quite awake: "What's going on, Zack?"

But before he could say a word, he started to cough, and he was really hard coughing. His lungs seemed to have caught fire and burned like quality firewood. When he finally got to a stop and had the cough under control, he lied a hand to his chest as he was a little surprised and then, he took a few deep breaths in and out.

"Zack?", Rachel responded a little worried, yet she showed little emotion, "Are you sick?"

"D-Don't be d-damn s-sil-", a loud sneezing interrupted his reply and he sniffed something, being irritated by the force of the sneeze.

"You're sick," she said with a 'I knew it' look, "You shouldn't have run through the rain. Now, you got yourself sick."

He would have said something if the pain in his throat hadn't killed him.

"Your throat hurts, right?" She asked with a knowing look. She just wanted to know if she was right about her guess.

He only nodded as he was unable to speak through the pain. The coughing made his sore throat a lot worse, so he thought his throat was full of sharp spikes. Every time he had to swallow, he thought his spit would brush the sharp side of those spikes. Although 'brush' was no expression for it anymore, 'very bad stabbing' fit in there much better.

"I'll get you something against the pain," she informed him. Then she jumped out of bed and headed for the bathroom, where she could swear she had bought cold medicine. Quickly she took the white stool out of the bathroom corner, put it in front of the medicine cabinet, and then climbed on it. " _Zack would certainly have reach the cupboard without any problem_ ," she thought as she opened the cupboard doors and rummaged through the package. In addition to a few antidepressants, she then found a pack of throat pills. She took them. Then, she grabbed the fever thermometer just to be sure. Then, she closed the cupboard and put the stool back in the corner. Finally, she found her way back to Zack, who was staring holes into the wall. His expression told her that he had become impatient. If he hadn't had the unbelievable pain, he might have mocked her about 'What do you need so long for?' Or 'I'm going crazy here and you're just playing around and take your time'.

"If the pain is really bad, take one of them and suck on it.", Rachel told him and handed him one of the pills. It wouldn't have been a great idea if she had given the whole box to him. Maybe he would have swallowed them all at once and that certainly wouldn't have been healthy.

Zack just took the red-colored pill without a word and put it in his mouth. Somehow, he didn't want to believe that this little drug could help him. At least it didn't taste bitter and after a minute he also realized that the pain was getting a little bit better. In the meantime, Rachel had brought him a glass of water and handed it to him: "Drink some water, please."

As he finished sucking, he took the glass with his trembling hands, which Rachel regarded with concern, and he drank. The water moistened his too-dry lips and refreshed his sore throat. It also slightly cooled the fire in his throat and chest, so he could relax a bit.

"Can I take your temperature?" She asked him, holding the thermometer between her fingers.

"J-just do it" he groaned. At least his voice didn't sound like a rusty chainsaw anymore. Now it sounded like new chainsaw. Whether that was good or bad, everyone could decide for themselves.

"Open your mouth wide and say Ah," Rachel said, holding the thermometer right in front of him.

"Is this some kindergarten shit or whaaat?" He complained immediately, but opened his mouth after he had coughed a little again.

" _At least he still complains. That's kind of ... calming me down._ ", She thought and put the fever thermometer in his mouth. Putting it in was easy, but keeping it there was a real challenge, "Zack, don't even think about spitting it out."

Zack gave her just a 'I kill you like' look, which Rachel answered with a 'Finally.' Look. Then he remembered that she had a death wish. That much for the topic, I kill you.

As they waited for the thermometer to beep, Rachel noticed that Zack was shaking, "Are you cold? Oh, right, you cannot talk with the thermometer in your mouth. Tell me later."

And then finally the long-awaited beeping came and she pulled the thermometer out of his mouth. Then she looked at the bright green scoreboard.

"And?", Zack inquired and had no expectations.

"39.3°C. It wouldn't be possible for you to move, but you do…", Rachel remarked and put the thermometer aside.

"Y-Yes, I do?", He replied in a shaky voice and wrapped his arms around his slender upper body, "J-Just for you to know: a little damn cold won't get on me that easily."

"I don't think it's a little cold," she said worriedly, "I better make you a cold compress for your fever."

"By the way, I-I a-am f-freezing. You w-wanted to know.", He answered her last asked question.

"Then I'll bring you an extra blanket," she said and was about to run back to the bathroom when she asked him, "Would you like some tea?"

"I would like coke.", shouted Zack, who mentally made a side note, not to be so loud anymore. The burning in his throat returned and seemed to get worse.

"Okay, then a coke. The main thing is, you're drinking.", Rachel shouted back, who had reached the bathroom by now. She pulled an extra blanket out of the linen closet and dipped a cloth in the cold water. Then she went back to Zack, who had his eyes closed.

"Zack?" She wondered, " _Did he fall asleep_?"

"Huh?", He tiredly opened an eye, "Eh, I-I'm awake."

She smiled a tiny bit so that it was so tiny that Zack couldn't feel any murder lust, "You should sleep later, though."

"Why that?", He asked uncomprehendingly, as Rachel put the cold rag on his forehead. He jerked briefly at the touch.

"Because your body needs rest to fight against the virus," she told him, wrapping the blanket around him. He cuddled in a bit and the shudder seemed to stop. Maybe because he had taken Rachel's blanket and his too, "My body can handle it."

"Zack, just relax, ok?", Rachel looked at him with worried, blue eyes, "Relax and take it all a bit easier."

"If you say so.", He just closed his eyes and tried to relax. He wouldn't have thought about falling asleep so quickly, and at that moment the next nightmare began...


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here we go with part 2. Right now, this fanfiction has 18 parts and is still in progress. I only need to translate the chapters, but this isn't as easy as it sounds. Often I have lack of motivation to do so and it would be nice to have some reviews. Last time, I only get one, but it's ok for my first AoD Fanfic. But I would be very happy to read some Reviews btw.**

 _"There he is, Doctor," said the first caregiver, leading the medical expert into the room where Zack had curled up in one of the beds. The little black-haired boy looked completely exhausted and feeble. Although the two caregivers knew he had a strong instinct, they underestimated the danger due to apparent weakness. So the unaware doctor approached the boy, who was completely confused by the fever, and he spoke softly so that the caregivers had left the room with a good conscience: "Good day, little one. Well, what's the matter? Are you not feeling well?"_

 _However, because of his feverish condition Zack saw the doctor as enemy and felt instinctively threatened, which made him bite as the doctor reached out to him. He felt the tender, raw flesh between his murderous teeth and he would have liked to shred it with the purest bloodthirstiness if the hand wasn't being pulled away from him._

 _"You're a naughty boy, am I right?" The gentle tone of the doctor had turned into a weird evil tone, and the cool blue eyes of the medical expert looked down on the sick boy with disdain. "I think, I have to teach you some proper manners, I'm thinking of taming the wild beast inside you." When the doctor said that, he took an injection from his doctor's bag. His bland look and grin were so frightening that the picture burned eternally into Zack's memory. Most of all, he would never forget the pain of being stabbed in the body against his own will…_

"Huh?", Zack wondered as he was torn from sleep by the nightmare.

"Eh? Zack, what's up? "Rachel asked with a slightly worried expression.

"Ugh, just a fucking dream.", He croaked in a hoarse voice. He really sounded like a half-ridden cat as soon as he opened his mouth: "It's your fault! All because of 'I should relax' and 'take everything easier'" but his coughing brought his never-ending gripe to a final end. Rachel gently rubbed his back.

"Don't touch me!", He hissed a little angry, which made him cough again. Now, his throat and his lungs burned again. As if there had been a forest fire in his bronchial tree and the flames had risen to his throat.

After Rachel pulled her hand away a little surprised, she took the glass of Coke, which she had brought when Zack had slept. Then, she held it out to him: "By the way, here's the Coke you wanted earlier. You look like you might need it."

" _'You look like you might need it.'_ " He repeated annoyed in his aching head. He couldn't explain why, but he was pretty pissed off right now and he wouldn't hesitate to let out his bad temper and immense anger at Rachel. Although ... The glass of Coke in his eyes seemed quite convenient and he took it without even a grateful look to the giver and he drank. He had to admit that it was good to have a drink. Especially since his throat was as dry as the largest desert in the world. After drinking, he didn't feel much better, more like it had got worse, although Cola was known as a remedy for stomach problems. Maybe that was just a myth from old times. Anyway, he was feeling sick.

"Why this bucket?" He asked, slightly confused, pointing to the grassy green bucket beside his bed, which he had just noticed. He swore it hadn't been there before.

"You always get sick so fast.", Rachel said caring that her worry almost pissed him off.

"Don't remind me of that!" He groaned as he had to choke. Then, his stomach started to ache and he wrapped an arm around the hurt part of his body.

"Do you have a stomach ache?", She wanted to know worried.

He just nodded and squinted in pain.

"Alright. I'll make you a hot water bottle. ", She informed him and went to the bathroom to fill a hot water bottle with hot water. When it was full, she turned off the shimmering silver faucet and brought the hot water bottle to Zack and she put it on his stomach.

"Better?" She inquired, sounding slightly hopeful.

"A little bit," he sighed, noticing that he had little strength to fight the pain. Exhausted, he had sat up in bed and now stared apathetically at the opposite wall. His head was throbbing like crazy and he was getting slightly dizzy, so he held his head.

"I'll change the cold compress for you.", Rachel informed him and took the now dry cloth from his forehead.

"You don't have to tell me everything you do." He croaked in a miserable voice and started to cough again. Whenever he heard her voice, he always felt he would hear it twice and that confused him.

"Then, I'll stay quiet from now on," Rachel said, silently going to the bathroom to rewet the cold towel.

Meanwhile, Zack tried to relax a bit, remembering his dream, " _This is the second time I have dreamed weird shit like that. It starts to be annoying. But it doesn't seem like a dream ... Is that a goddamn memory? Oh, who cares? My skull hurts like crazy anyway. I don't care."_

When Zack had finished thinking, Rachel came back with the wet cloth and put it on his forehead. Then, he tried to lie down a bit and relax, the coolness of the rag dampening his headache a little. Still, he didn't want to sleep yet because he was afraid of getting the same weird dream again. He wasn't afraid of nightmares, but this dream gave him goose bumps, though he didn't even know why. Maybe because it didn't feel like a normal dream, probably because those dreams seemed strange to him.

Rachel sat down silently on the edge of the bed and kept her promise, so she remained silent. Much to the disapproval of her black-haired friend: "If you're so quiet, it's also stupid."

"You should rest. Sleep" she advised him.

He groaned and said in a croaking voice: "Don't tell me what to do."

"Alright, then I just suggest you relax," she said in a calm voice. Then, she asked, "Can I do you any good?"

"If I would get well, I would be grateful to you," he replied in a low, fading voice. Speaking was causing him more and more pain, so he tried to keep his voice down. Despite this, one could still hear the slight irony and sarcastic undertone from his battered voice.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not a doctor.", Rachel replied and closed her eyes for a moment. What could she do to make Zack feel better? Then, she got an idea and she opened her deep blue eyes, which still looked thoughtful: "But I could call a doctor and he might be able to help you."

"Ugh, no doctor!", He immediately contradicted the idea, because he had to think directly of his dream. So that he would not stand there like a coward, he added quickly: "I'm still fine. No need to waste the time of a quack who can't do anything anyway."

"Well ...", she finally said, "If you don't want to. I can't force you. But if it does not get better, I have to call a doctor."

"If you do that, you're-", he could not even pronounce the word 'dead', since at the last moment he was reminded that she had a death wish, "Oh, fuck it, I'm telling shit again."

"Yes. You should rest, " she repeated her advice from earlier.

He groaned again, "Can you please be a little less doll-like? This constant, 'you should rest' is getting on my nerves. Are you a dummy or something?" He still couldn't explain why everything and everyone upset him today. Maybe it was the pain he felt all over his body, or maybe it was the nightmares that plagued him whenever he closed his eyes. No matter what he was, he really was in a bad mood and he was bored. So he looked up at his little friend who was staring thoughtfully at the wall. Apparently she was deep in thought again. She was probably wondering how she could best trying to help him. He sighed silently, not knowing what he should do now. Did he really want to keep thinking about all the torture that had plagued him since today? Did he really want to give in to this torture or could he just ignore it? As his cough tore him out of his thoughts, he realized that ignoring would be difficult. Above all, he found it difficult to forget the intense pain in his throat. From the many talking and complaining the pain had become stronger again, worse than the pain had been before. As though the spikes had turned into screws, trying to screw themselves into the sides of his neck. Whenever he swallowed, he could sense that the screws were getting deeper and deeper and the pain was hard to bear. This in turn made Zack restless and the urge to move became stronger. Although his limbs hurt as hard as letting bricks fall on him, he wanted to get up, move, and just run in circles. Perhaps his strong instinct was also responsible for this will, which was completely irresponsible due to the fever. Then, his mind told him again that he should stay lying, otherwise the pain would become too strong. Although Zack was already wondering how it could get any worse. He was already tortured enough anyway! But his mind and instinct spoke so differently to him that he thought he was losing his nerve.

" _Can't you finally be quiet?! God, fucking instinct and fucking mind! How should I know what's better for me!?_ ", he cursed inwardly, pulling down the hood of his hoodie. Then, he clawed a bit into the soft fabric, hoping for a stop on his never-ending, hurtful thinking. The pain was terrible and completely unbearable. A bit desperate, he curled up a little under the covers, but tried to hold back the whimpering. What kind of a killer would he cry for some pain? Or whine? Even though he wanted to let out screams of pain...

"Zack?! What's going on?" Rachel wanted to know when she noticed his strange behavior.

"Fuck ... pain ...", he hissed between clenched teeth and took a deep breath, so he wouldn't scream. But that only made his lungs so irritated that he needed to cough.

"Maybe I should call a doctor ...", she said uncertainly and worried.

"I swear ...", he really had to pull himself together to suppress the screams: "I'm throwing the fucking cell phone out of the window when you call a doctor."

"Oh, but we're on the first floor," she thought aloud.

"Exact." he answered with a pained croak. Of course, he wanted to break the crap cellphone, if he would throw it out. Best with broken display and destroyed battery. The thought of it calmed him somehow down.

"Then, I'll see if I have some painkillers around here," Rachel informed him, and she headed for the bathroom to see if she might even find some analgesics in the medicine cabinet. She briefly remembered how she had to look on B5 for medicine for Zack back then. She hoped that she would at least find it this time, " _I hope, I find the right drug. If he really shows such a reaction, he must have terrible pain."_

With these words, she took the stool from the corner again, stood on it and searched through the medicine cabinet. Fortunately, she found a pack of painkillers that were strong in effect but also make quite tired. "Zack is supposed to sleep a little anyway," she thought as she reached for the pack and pulled it out. Briefly, she checked the expiration date, nodded in satisfaction, and then put the stool away. Immediately she ran back to Zack, who was still writhing in pain.

"Zack, if you take a pill, the pain goes away.", Rachel tried to encourage him.

"Ugh ... really?", He sounded completely exhausted and weakened. Then, he coughed feebly and tried to sit up despite the worst severe pain.

"I hope so, at least." She held out the pill and he waited for her to get a glass of water.

"Just one?", He looked down at the white thing in wonderment, "Are you sure that one is sufficient? The pain is really intense."

"Zack, an overdose will not make it any better either," she said worriedly, helping him take the medicine.

"Ugh, now I'm tired." After Zack swallowed the pill and emptied half of the glass, he felt a little dizzy. Maybe that was because the fever had gotten worse. Exhausted, he closed his eyes, but this time he needed a little longer to him to get his restful or not restful sleep ...


	3. Chapter 3

Even a serial killer gets sick sometimes… Part 3

 _"Either he gets better or not," the doctor finally told the caregivers, who only listened and answered with a nod, "If it doesn't get any better, you can always call me and I'll try other methods."_

 _"Of course," said one of the caregivers, "Thank you for providing us for free."_

 _"Of course", Replied the medical expert with a friendly expression, which he also kept, as he continued: "By the way, you should leave the child alone for a little while. It's a bit aggressive because of the injection I gave him."_

 _"Oh, he's always like that.", The other caregiver, who had just kept out of the conversation just beckoned it, "He has mental problems."_

 _"A real psychopath.", The first supervisor hastily added. After all, no one should learn that the two were guilty of Zack's aggressive behavior. So, the reason for his strange behavior was just put on the psyche, that was worse for orphanage children than for normal, happy children who had a family. But if they had known what the doctor really was like, they probably wouldn't even have had to hide it._

" _How can I help Zack the best?_ ", Rachel Gardner paced thoughtfully, passing Zack's bed again and again. She stopped short and looked down at him worriedly. " _He seems to be restless in his sleep. He probably has a nightmare again. Should I wake him up?_ " She shook her head once, " _No, he would just yell at me afterwards. Either way, he will do that…_ "

She sighed and continued running up and down. Thoughtfully, she had put her index finger to her chin and wondered what else she could do to make her sick friend feel better: " _Don't we have any medicine books here?_ " By this thought, she facepalmed, " _My mobile phone has online connections_."

So she sat down at the edge of the bed and opened Google, where she entered Zack's symptoms in the search bar:

" _I hope I will find something useful_ " she thought as she scrolled through the search results and widened her eyes at the word "flu." " _Flu? Did Zack get infected with it_?" When she compared the symptoms to Zack's, she knew he had the flu. She pityingly looked at the peaceful sleeping Zack, " _I feel sorry for him_ ", She sighed and closed her eyes thoughtfully: " _If I tell him how worse he will get, he will surely kill me._ ", She opened her eyes again and smiled a little: " _But I'll help him anyway_."

With this decided thought, she scrolled down from symptoms to treatment.

" _Bed rest,_ " she thought and sighed, " _Zack won't like that, but he has to go through it now. With that awful pain, he has, he would prefer to stay in bed, I guess._ " She looked briefly with pitying eyes on Zack and wondered: " _Is what he dreams just terrible?_ "

 _"Argh! God damn, damn doctor!" Zack cursed so silent that it couldn't be heard by the caregivers who watched television next door. He clenched his teeth and tried to ignore the intense pain he felt all over his body. Painfully he squinted and cursed the effect of the injection: "As if he had ever planned on helping me! This syringe causes me nothing but pain! My whole-body hurts like hell! What was that fucking drug?"_

 _Full of pain, he curled up and he whimpered softly: "Stop this awful pain!"_

 _But especially from the puncture site, which had been untypically his side, was a painful, much too strong pain. So, Zack knew that the doctor had injected him no medication. And the pain got worse every second ..._

"Zack!", Rachel was startled and jumped up from the edge of the bed when Zack had trembled hardly.

"What ... is it?" gasped Zack, who had awakened from her cry. He was still breathing a little fast, making him cough a lot and he could hardly stop.

"You had a nightmare and you trembled," she explained and sat back down on the edge of the bed.

"So, what?", His cough had calmed down, but his voice sounded a lot more scratchy, as if it was giving up at any moment.

"That scared me," she confessed and then looked down shamefully: "You have these nightmares quite often, don't you?"

"Yes," he croaked, clearing his throat to get some understandable words out of his throat, "But it's not like I couldn't handle it. I'm used to it- "he had to cough again afterwards, which had finally given up his voice and he could no more than make a soft, pathetic croak.

"Your voice!" Rachel remarked, taking her hand over her mouth in surprise.

 _"It's gone, I know_.", Zack replied mentally. He made clear what he thought with an annoyed eye roll.

"What are we going to do now?" She asked a little worried and pulled her phone out of her pocket. With quick taps, she opened Google, typed a few terms into the Google search bar, and waited for the results she couldn't see because Zack tore her cell phone out. She looked at him in surprise. He just gave the display a questionable look and then he looked responsively at his little, puzzled girlfriend.

"I'm just looking for a way to help you." Rachel tried to explain, "I'm not calling a doctor. Promise!"

He only gave it to her with a loud groan, in the sense of, 'If you do so!'

"Thanks," she picked up her phone and looked at the results the search engine had given her. She read briefly through the results, then shared her newly acquired knowledge with Zack, who became impatient. Apparently, the painkiller still worked, otherwise he would probably have long ago bent back in pain. But maybe he also had pain, but he didn't want to show it and be called weak and pathetic.

"Well, Zack, I read a lot here I can help you with. I can make you tea, you can take another throat painkiller, inhale, a scarf ... ", she began to enumerate, but her list was interrupted by his annoyed sigh, whereupon she also sighed: " You have to let me help you already."

He just rolled his eyes irritably. Having no voice excited him even more. Now, he couldn't even say what was wrong with him and the sign language slowly got on his nerves. Actually, everything got on his nerves and he just wanted his peace, which he was not granted one way or the other. Whether in sleep the nightmares or in the waking state, the innumerable symptoms that made his life a living hell for him. He was beginning to wonder if he would be spared again, if only for a few painless, non-coughing minutes in which neither his neck nor his nose was burning. But these minutes didn't seem to exist for him.

"Well, I think I'll make you some tea now and you'll be sucking another pill in the meantime.", Rachel suggested and handed him another throat painkiller,which he just sucked without a word. At least at that moment the fire stopped in his throat, but he didn't feel safe about it. He already suspected that this pain relief wouldn't be permanent, nor would the painkillers help. That hadn't been the case from the start. He still felt strong pain, but he had control over it and didn't show his pain anymore. Even though it felt like an ordeal from all the torture methods he had met, he tried his best to swallow the pain and not show it. What would the whining and whimper bring to him? Nobody had helped him in the dream and Rachel would surely stop if it would be too much for her. Zack also knew that, which is why he tried to make his painful illness appear as harmless as possible.

"Here, this tea will help you." Rachel said as she handed Zack a mug of hot tea. With his face twisted in pain, he sat up and took the hot drink into his shaky hands.

When she realized that he was shaking, she wondered, "Huh? Do you feel any pain? The analgesic should actually work _._ "

"I-It's okay," he croaked in a halfway present voice, but it sounded as if it almost broke off again.

"Oh. I thought so. ", She exhaled calmly and watched him drink. She didn't notice that he had lied. After all, she didn't believe that Zack would ever lie to her - after all, he hated liars. His statement had only half made him a liar, because even if the pain was more than unbearable, they didn't get to him that easily. He was still holding it in, though he wasn't sure how much longer he could go through it. At some point, namely when the weakness of his body would become too strong, he would have to give away his cover. But he hoped that this moment wouldn't come. He still needed his blond-haired friend.

When he drank the tea, he was just glad that he couldn't taste anything because of his stuffy nose. He hated tea over everything and found the hot drink disgusting, which made the tastelessness at least a small consolation for him: " _At least a positive thing. But if I didn't catch that damned cold, I wouldn't have to drink that groaning tea either. So, it's shit after all._ "

When he had emptied the cup, he handed it back to Rachel and cuddled back into the blankets. He felt very cold as if he had settled in a freezer.

" _Shivering?_ " Rachel wondered, becoming more worried, " _But the fever cannot get any higher!_ "

Uncertain what to do about it, she tore the blankets away from Zack, which gave her a very, very pissed look.

"W-what the hell- what do you think you d-?", He couldn't continue to speak, because a violent sneezing interrupted him. Shivering, he wrapped his arms around him and he trembled like aspen leaves. His nose was now too abundant.

"Your fever will only increase" Rachel explained apologetically, "That's why I had to take the blanket away from you."

"I-I'm cold." Zack croaked a little defenseless. He was really exposed to the cold in his body and then he felt heat. An unpleasant heat in his throat and an incredible heat in his head. His remaining body felt cold as metal.

"It will go away soon." his friend tried to reassure him. She wanted to stroke him, but she thought again about the last reaction received.

"W-Why would that shit go away?!" Now Zack raised his voice and ignored the terrible pain it caused, "It won't go! Argh! I hate it! I hate it ... "At the end his voice became weak and weak again. He had to cough aloud from the effort, so Rachel looked at him worriedly. He looked at her with an angry look, "Don't look at me like that. I'm fine."

"But you're sick, how can you act like you are fine?" She asked, looking a little calmer now.

"I say I'm fine.", Zack really had trouble making his words sound. For him it just felt as if every word stuck in his throat. Every sound seemed to fade away in his throat, narrowed in pain, and his words broke off now.

"You sound really awful, Zack. Please don't talk anymore. ", wanted Rachel, who looked at him again with deep blue, worried eyes. For a brief moment, he just looked into those worrying eyes and lost himself in them, like a human being lost in the vastness of space, like a glimpse of the distant horizon or the vast sky. Somehow this deep blue calmed him down and he got away a bit from his anger. He started to relax. Or perhaps that was because the fever was so high that it numbed him and made him apathetic. As a result, his eyelids became heavier and heavier, so soon he couldn't do anything but close them and wait for the next nightmare. The worried Rachel, however, remained at his side and didn't even leave the edge of the bed when he fell asleep ...


	4. Chapter 4

**Even a serial killer gets sick sometimes**

 **Part 4**

 _The orphanage caretakers had never been nice to Zack: they had him buried the bodies of other children who had just died. They only let him drink dirty water and nothing to eat_ _._ _So, he often had to search in the garbage for something that was maybe rotten or even poisonous, but edible_ _._ _But not only the two caretakers in the orphanage were cruel to him, but also the other kids in the orphanage were not friendly towards him._ _To be honest, they were mean._ _Since these children themselves had mental health problems, they were aggressive and behavior-conspicuous._ _They were known for beating the weaker up or biting, or even ... killing in the worst case._ _Normally, Zack could do very well against the other kids, after all, he was not inferior to them, but now that he was in such great pain that he believed he was dying, he was one of the weak ones on whom the mean, strong Kids, -but not just those-, hacked at him._

„ _"Hey, look how_ _Zack_ _bends in pain!" The first child pointed with his finger at the weak-looking boy._

 _"What's his problem?" One of the mean children asked provocatively, grinning, "Did the doctor do bad things to him?" Then a nasty laugh released from his mouth, making the other mean children listen and take notice._

 _"It doesn't matter what's with that bitch" hissed an annoyed child from his bed, "He's getting on my nerves."_

„ _"So he finally got weak." The first mean child grinned and called his brawlers together: "Come on, let's make him stop whimpering."_ _"And how?" Asked one of the more retarded children_.

 _"Well, if he's unconscious, he'll feel no pain," the leader answered laughing._

 _"Ingenious plan," grinned another child and so they were five circling around Zack's bed._

* * *

Rachel sighed, " _He seems to have a nightmare again._ _He is getting very restless."_

Concerned, she bit her lower lip and thought about what she should do: " _Should I keep him sleeping or should I wake him up?_ _The better question is what's more painless for him."_

Her blue eyes darkened with concern because she had already noticed Zack's predicament. When he he was supposed to get some restful sleep, he had nightmares, but when he was awake, the flu was tormenting him. He would never have a stop from his suffering, whether in sleeping or being awake. But Rachel thought that sleep was better than dealing with various disease symptoms. Although she had to admit that she was already curious about what he was dreaming about ...

* * *

 _"I feel so bad and it hurts ... Argh!_ _It hurts like hell!" Zack whimpered, trying to be as quiet as possible._ _But the pain made his attempts in vain and now, he was unable to hold back the cries of pain._ _They mostly came out of his throat in an uncontrolled way, so he had to bite his tongue to keep his cries of pain as quiet as possible_ _._ _He couldn't risk showing weakness. Not when survival was all._ _Even with pain and illness he had to defend himself._ _If not, he might soon be a corpse to be buried._

 _"Hey,_ _Zack." A voice called out that Zack was sure he didn't want to hear it right now, "Well, are you hurt?"_

 _"Go away," he croaked with a miserable voice that had almost reached the limit due to the many screams._ _"Oh, I'm not alone," the leader said, grinning at the black-haired boy._

„ _Verpisst euch.", murmelte Zack, was wirklich nur ein leises, kaum hörbares Wispern war._ _"Piss you", Zack muttered, which was just a low, barely audible whisper._ _His voice had failed at that moment and he coughed heavily, spitting some blood as well,_ _as he had bitten his tongue multiple times before._

 _"Hey, I'm gonna piss on you when you not shut your mouth!" The leader kid hissed a little louder._ _The volume caused the sick boy to wince in a headache that only got worser, but the mean kid didn't stop: "Your whimpering gets_ _on our nerves."_

 _Zack said nothing, but he badly wanted to_ _._ _Only the pain and his broken voice didn't allow it, so he was forced to remain silent._ _In addition, he suppressed his cough, so that the mean children wouldn't allude to it._

 _"Yes exactly._ _Just be quiet." Now a child from the group intervened,"Otherwise we'll mute you."_

„ _"Just a sound and you're dead, Zack" another child threatened._

 _Zack just nodded and struggled with all the pain that made him want to scream._ _He fought the coughing which slowly squeezed his lungs._ _He wanted to gasp, he wanted to cough, but he couldn't._ _He was afraid for his life._ _Usually he was no one to be scared or to show fear, but for once, -and he didn't know if it was the injection or the disease itself-, he couldn't help but let his weakness and anxiety go free._ _Why didn't these mean children just leave him alone?_ _Didn't they notice that he just didn't care?_ _But he would never get rest or get better with these assholes around him._ _He had always been their bullying victim ever since he came to the orphanage._ _He had never had any friends but one, but this friend died of child abuse_ _by the caregivers._ _Then, Zack had to bury the corpse of his best friend._ _Since then he had become really quiet and also very lonely._

* * *

" _Can't I calm him down somehow?"_ Rachel wondered with a thoughtful look. she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and typed "What to do Nightmares" into Google's search bar. Exited, she waited for the results. She was quickly presented with relevant results and she scrolled through hoping that she would receive useful information.

" _You shouldn't do anything?!"_ Rachel was finally shocked and sighed. Then, she looked at Zack with worried and a sympathetic expression: " _But it just keeps getting worse."_ A little sadly, she put her cell phone away and her eyes became a little more resolute: " _But I stay with him and if it's the only thing, that I can do for him."_

 _Zack couldn't hold back his cough for very long and he had to cough what became a veritable coughing attack that_ _not only made his throat but also his lungs burn_ _._ _Just when he thought his cough had calmed down, one of the boys gave him a kick to his lungs and, he gasped for air, thinking he was suffocating for a moment._ _Tears were forming in his shiny, feverish, glassy eyes and he was afraid of his life._ _With quick breaths that were almost taken in panic, he tried to fill his lungs with enough oxygen so that he wouldn't have to suffocate._ _That was hard enough with the awful pain._ _Above all, it seemed to please the horrible children and they laughed at his fear._ _Apparently, his despair made them want to do more so they stepped on him and hit him all at once._ _._ _Sometimes they hit his lungs, so he was desperate to gasp, sometimes they hit the side into which the crazy doctor had injected him this awful drug._ _But no matter where they kicked him ... He felt hellish pain_ _._ _At some point it became too much for him; then, when they started to laugh about how weak and sick he was._ _The words 'pathetic', 'monster', 'idiot' and many more hurtful expressions were said, causing Zack's head to explode in pain._ _After all, he couldn't handle it anymore and madness was coming over him. Finally, he screamed in a croaking, overused voice: "Stop it!_ _Shut your fucking mouth and be quiet for a goddamn moment! "_

 _Frightened because despite the torture he could still spend so much strength, the children retreated._ _Suddenly, they got_ _a queasy feeling about the bullying and so they moved away from him._ _A little bit blood dripped to the floor and they looked at Zack in fear, who was not only bloodied in the face and bleeding from the mouth, but also had blood from his side._

 _He grinned a little victoriously, though the pain drove him insane._ _Maybe the pain had already made him insane and that's why he was just immune to the immense pain._ _"Are you afraid?" He asked, coughing even more blood that was coming out of his mouth, not knowing if it was coming from his lungs or from his tongue, "I give you three seconds._ _Then you can run away and leave me alone.", He grinned a little wider, which made it the grin look more psychopathic," If not, I'll infect you all. "_

 _But because of fear, the children had fallen into paralysis and couldn't move._ _At the same moment, however, the caretakers came in, who had become aware of the noise, and now the two of them saw the chaos._ _Zack's bed resembled a battlefield, five frightened children stood around it, trembling like aspen leaves._ _The scene looked very wrong in the eyes of the caregivers._

 _"Isaac!" The first caretaker shouted angrily, and Zack got angry, too, because he had been addressed with his real name._ _He hated that name so much that it pissed him off._ _His psychopathic grin became even more frightening and the five kids ran away._ _The caretaker made furious and less anxious steps toward him: "What comes to your mind?! Are you mad?!"_

 _"They're to blame," Zack tried to defend in a croaking voice._ _From_ _the moment_ _where the caretaker_ _had stood_ _before him,_ _he was doing worse again._ _The pain became unbearable again and he coughed heavily._

 _"Don't fool us." The big man didn't seem like he believed the boy, "Sick or not, you're going to sleep outside today."_

 _"What?" Zack wanted to scream, but his voice allowed only a soft, inaudible croak._

 _But the man didn't answer him, but grabbed him rudely and pulled him behind him._ _The pulling caused more pain for Zack and he cried out in agony._ _No sound escaped from his throat anyway._ _He only knew that he would die now._ _Alone, sick, weak, in the cold._

* * *

"Zack!", Rachel let go of a worried scream, as her black-haired friend squirmed in his sleep and apparently tried to get out of something. She also had to be careful that she didn't get hit by him, but she had promised herself not to leave his side. Even though she'd taken a few punches for that, which were surprisingly not as hard as normal.

" _Ow ... Zack must have gotten really weak,"_ thought Rachel, who believed more she was going to die of worry. So, she did the only thing she thought was right. She woke him up by leaning over him and shaking his shoulder as she called out his name aloud.

"Zack ...", she let out a sigh of relief as he opened his eyes. She pulled away some tears that had formed in her eyes out of fear and put on a slight, calm smile, "Thanks God, you're finally awake."

„"Ray?", He looked at her a bit confused and dizzy, then, he coughed away from her.

"Yes?", She had not noticed it out of concern ...

He had already noticed, despite his feverish and stunned state, "W-Why are you so close?"

When Rachel noticed that her face was only a few inches from his, she blushed, "Eh, I don't know."

With a cold expression, he pushes her back, so that she was no longer in his immediate vicinity.

„"Zack?" She wondered why he suddenly didn't want her around.

„Argh. We can't let you get sick, too" he said as he coughed away from her again. At least he had the feeling that this cough felt better than that in the dream.„

"I see," Rachel said, rubbing his back. He only looked at her with a tired, weary expression, but didn't seem to be against the touch. he just didn't have the strength to fight back."He being so weak made her even more worried, which of course was noticed by Zack: "Don't worry."

"But ...", Rachel started, but she didn't have the words she needed to finish the sentence.

"Stop that," Zack said in a contorting voice, coughing again for the sake of speaking, "Ray, you worry too much about things that don't need to be worried about." His throat grew drier with speech, so that the cough stimulus increased.

Rachel just kept rubbing his back, "You're sick. That's why I'm worried. "

"So what?", He replied in a brittle voice, "A little cold and a little cough will not take me down."

"Zack ...", Rachel just shook her head in disbelief and was unsure if she should tell him what she had found on the internet, "It's not just a little cold or a little coughing." Zack ... ", she took a deep breath and then said," You have the flu. "

Now small question marks formed over his head and he looked at her in confusion: "Huh? The flu?"

Rachel just nodded and was glad that he hadn't been angry about it yet. It wouldn't do him any good if he got mad, "This is not a common cold. This is worse. You are very sick, Zack.""Can I die?", He wanted to know.

„Um… nein?", anhand ihrer Antwort merkte man, dass sie unsicher war. "Um ... no?", From her answer you could realize that she was insecure. She had not read about that.

"Look," Zack said and shrugged his aching shoulder, "I'm not dying, so calm down."

"Zack ... I don't know ...", she became a little nervous now, "Maybe you could die."

"Rachel ...", though his voice was badly battered, and you could hear that it was about to faded, he sounded serious: "After all we've been through… I guess I'm not going to die because of a cold or flu or whatever it is...""Yes ...", Rachel said and was unsure at first, but then she gained courage and smiled again: "If you say so, it must be true!"

Just as Zack wanted to say something with a grin, he realized that his voice was gone. Annoyed, he rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, exhausted. Also, because the pain had returned and he had trouble suppressing it.

„Zack? Is your voice missing?" Rachel asked," I can make you another cup of tea."

He just nodded, and she made her way to the kitchen to brew another cup of tea for him.

" _Come on, Zack."_ He spurred himself on and hissed something, because of the pain he felt " _Just a little bit more._ _The fucking pain will go away soon and everything will be fine ... Everything will be fine._ _ARGH!_ _I don't fucking even believe myself._ _Nothing will get better!"_

After gaining this realization, he writhed a little in pain again and he pulled the hood of the hoodie deeper into his face, because he had got more headache from thinking. With a pained expression on his face, he held his stomach and whimpered quietly to himself, since no one could hear. Rachel was too far away so the whimpering couldn't reach her and there was none other in the apartment. If she had been there, he probably wouldn't even have thought about whimpering.

" _Fuucck, is this bad and the pain ... My stomach kills me!_ _Everything hurts ... Okay, I tell Ray that I'm in pain."_ Zack thought, trying to distract himself from thoughts of nausea. As he took a deep breath, he closed his aching eyelids and tried to relax. Of course, the tiredness had to come over him again and he fell asleep.

 _ **Original author comment:**_ _ **.**_ **The chapter got a bit long and I tortured Zack a bit too much, I think, but that doesn't matter.** **Torture is always good in Sickfic ^ - ^ Above all, I tried in the dream sequence to play with Zack's real name.** **The children have given each other nicknames and so they call Isaac when they speak to him, Zack.** **However, the caregivers use the right names, which always makes Zack angry.**

 **Well, let's see what happens in the next chapter and let's see how bad he can go ... Oke, I'm sadistic XD Of course we all want Zack to get better, right?** **D** : **D**

 **Additional comment: So, it took me a little time to translate more, also because this chapter was really long, but I'm on it! Also, while translating, my computer shut down and I had to do it over again…**

 **But I'm really happy about the nice comments and reviews that I get! It's really a motivation for me! Thanks a lot :D**

 **I hope I hear more from your nice words~**

Update: This was posted and delected first, because there was the German script in it... I don't know how it happends, but it was confused so I had to delect all the German parts in it myself and that was hard work... Hopefully there isn't some German left in this chapter... If so, I'm (not) sorry.


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